The Front-gate saga began with the firing last month of Stephen Coughlin, a Major in the Army Reserves who was working as a civilian contractor for the Joint Chiefs of Staff when he ran afoul of one Hashem Islam.
Prime contractor for the AfriStar satellite was Alcatel Space with Marta Marconi Space, a joint venture of Britain's General Electric and France's Lagardere the major sub-contractor.
Afghan soldiers opened fire on U.S. forces at a joint base in eastern Afghanistan last Friday, killing one U.S. contractor and injuring four U.S. troops.
Joint intelligence operations between Pakistan and the United States were suspended in late January, after a CIA contractor killed two Pakistanis in Lahore.